Automatic train-control system.



LE R0 Y 0. CRIM. AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEM.

APPLYOATION FILED APR. 20,'1914- Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

LE ROTC. GBIM. AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEM.

APPLIOATIOI FILED APR. 20, 1914.

1,1 32,450. Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

WW- dl J. 7

LE 30? C. CRIN. (3F YGEK AUTQMATIC. TEAIN-CONTROL SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 16, 191th Application filed April 20, 1914. Serial Ra 841E314,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LE ROY C. CRIM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Altmar, in the county of Oswego and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Train- Control Systems, of which the following is a specificati0n,-reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an automatic railway control system designed for operation in connection with the ordinary block signal system commonly employed upon railways for preventing the movement of the train into a block which is already occupied by another train.

One of the more important and particular objects of the present invention 13 to pro vide-in a system for the automatic control of railways, electrically operated means for applying air to the brakes even though the engineers control valve remains in release position, and simultaneously cutting off the motive power.

The invention has for a further general object to devise an electrically operated railway control system which may be installed in railways employing the block signal system. without necessitating any alterations in the latter, or greatly increasing the initial cost and subsequent maintenance of the railwav equipment.

With the above and other objects in View as will become apparent as the description proceeds: the invention consists in certain constructions, comb nations and arrangements of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

I For a full understanding of theinvention, reference is to be had to the fOlIOWIXIg de scription and accompanying drawings, in which r A Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrat ing my invention as applied to the ordinary straight air brake svstem where the brakes are applied by the direct application of air to the brake cylinder piston. Fig. 21s an enlarged section through the electridally operated air supply controlling valves.-

Considering first that applicationof the present invention which is illustrated n Fig. 1 of the drawings, 5 designates the air pressure supplying tank which is replen mixed by a compression. 6 electrically driven from the source of current supply through the controller 7, a suitable prawn-e governor.

8 being arranged in the circuit; A pipe 9 connects the pressure tank 5 with the train line pipe 10 to which one end of the brake cylinder 11 is connected: A motormans control valve 12 is arranged inthe branch pipe 9 which is connected. to the pressure supply pipe 9. The piston 13 in the brake cylinder 11 is connected to the brake beams in the usual manner. The air supply pipe 9 is provided with'a suitable gage 14, alarm whistle 15 and safety valve 16. All. of the parts above referred to constitute the usual equipment for the common direct appiiea tron air brake system. In the circuit wire 1'? of the air compressor and pressure gov. ernor, a fuse block is located.

To the supply pipe 9 upon. one side of the motormans control valve 12, a branch pipe 18 is connected. The other end of this pipe is connected to the valvecasing 15!. This casing is provided with an interior partition wall as shown in Fig. 2 which divides the same into upper and lower chambers 21 and 22 respectively. This partitil'm wall is formed with an opening 23 normally closed by the valve member 524. This valve membe: is fixed upon a rod which is movable through suitable stu'tling boxes arranged in the top and bottoin walls of the casing 19; A vertical partitionwall 26 is also arranged in the upper: chamber 21 and provided with an opening 27 normally closed by the valve 28. To this upper chamber of the valve casing, one end of the pipe 29 is*connect'ed. the other end of said pipe being connected to the train line pipe l0. In the branch pipe 9", between theengineers valve 12 and the pipe 29 a second valve casing 30 is arranged, said casing beingalso provided with a horizontal p rtition wall 31 which divides the same into upper and lower chambers to which the supply pipe 9 and the train line pipe 10 respectively are connected. This partition wall 31'has a central opening 32 therein to receive a valve member 33 on the lower endof a rod 34. This valve rod is connected to the valve rod 25 by means-ofa. sleeve or nut indicated at 35,-.the bore of which is oppositely threaded atitsfends. and it will be understood that by simply adjusting this nut, the valves 24 and 3.3 may be adjusted with respect to each-tether. The sleeve 35 is securely held in its-adjusted position by suitable set screws 3.6; The valve member 28 is proyided with arod 37 which bhroughthe wall of the 19 and a uni; 410 is t said rod, whereby the tension of the valve y be adi r d.

rid, the core of the upper enn oi the valve rod s 1i coil spring: 43 is connected to the upper end of said core Lo normally hold. the same in an elevated position and out of en" gcinent with the valve rod, Une

end of the solenoid windinc' ii: is cosine-cred to a contact, shoe ca nearby the bra in 2110 0!; r end oi the Winding 4A is cunnec'ted to one of 'the track rails indicated at R. i

46 indicates a semaphore pole or post v uponthe upper of which the semaphore 'arm 47 is pivotally mounted in the usual manner. To acircuit closing cont-act member 18 on one end of this arm, a wire 429 is connected, said Wire extending from the conductor rail which is arranged at one side of the track and insulated from the ground. A contact arm 51. is mounted upon 7 the upper end of the post with which the "the valve rod 25.

contact 48 on the semaphore arm is adapted 3o eogagewhen the unaphore is in its danger indicating pos ion, and to this latter contac element 5i, a current conducting wire 52 is connected, said wire being connected at its other end to the trolley wire 53 or other source of electric current supply.

As thus far described. it will be manifestthat when a train occupies a block, and the semaphore is disposed in danger position, the contactsAlS and 51 being engaged. upon the approach of ancther train, to said block, the shoe 45 carried thereby will strike the conductorrail 50. and thereby close the circuit from the trolley Wire 53, through'vvire 52, the contacts 48 and 51, Wire 49; the rail 50, shoe 45 and the solenoid winding 44 through the track rails to the ground-. a it being of course understood that the solenoid winding is connected to the railsthrough the car Wheels. The solenoid is thus energized so that the core 42 ()hereof moves downwardly and engages the upper end of The valve 24 is thus forced downwardly to its open position against the action of the spring 24 Whichits closed position. Air will thus enter from the supply pipe'9 through the branch pipe 18 into the lower chamber 22 of the valve casing' 19, and pass into the upper chamberofsaid valvecasing. The pressure of the air against the valve 2 forces said'valve to its open position so that the air may enter the pipe 29 and the train line pipe 10, through which the air is supplied and to the brake'cylinder 11. The brake cylinder pis- 'ill take neglect ip position 'aid supply die atmosphere.

i thus as= andlcav pipe 9 1' The a 4 ."I 2 inc port sun nor-ted tun or il ductor rail 50, I provide a hook 5% on the solenoid core 42 with which spring held latch member is adapted to engage, said mcm er being secured upon one end of a. rod 56 mounted for sliding movement in a suitable supporting bracket 57. When it is desired to shut oil" the supply of air from the pressure cylinder to the train line pipe, the inctorman pushes upon the rod 56 to release the solenoid core so that the same is moved upwardly by the spring 43, thus perniifi' g the valve spring 24" and the air pressure in the lower chamber of the valve casing 19 to return the valves 24 and 33 to chair normal positions.

In addition to the automatic application of the air brakes. the motive supply current is also automatically cut oil' from the controller and consequently from the car inotors. To this end, I provide a second solonoid 58 having a Winding: 59. one terminal of which is connected to 'the track rails through. the car Whccis, and the other terminal connected to the shoe This solenoid is also provided with a second overload Winding 60, one terminal of which is connected to the wire 17 leading from the controller to the air compressor. The other terminal of this winding 60 is connected to the movable contact of a circuit breaker indicated at 61. The other movable contact of the circuit. breaker is electrically connected to the trolley pole such ccuinection including a resistance This in rahle con- .act is adapted to be actuated by the core of the solenoid 58. It will be noted that the emergency Winding 59 and the overload rplied."

winding 60 are arranged upon the same so- 7 lenoid. The winding 59 is of course heavy enough so that it will operate the circuit breaker 60 at the maximum load adjustment oi said solenoid. If for any reason however, this double winding of the solenoid is not desirable, it will be understood that separate solenoids may be used. It will be apparent from this latter description that. when the circuit is closed through the shoe 45 and thetrack rails in the manner above stated to automatically apply the air brakes, the coil 59 is also energized to operate the circuit breaker and thus dcenergize the overload coil 60, to cut off the'supply of current *0 ize motors, through the controller 7. In this manner, thetrain may be instantly brought tov astand. still and preinseam vented from entering the block which is already occupied by another train. It is to be noted that the exciting current for the application of the brakes and cutting ed the motive power, is taken direct from the trolley wire through the engaged contacts of the semaphore, and not from the motor circuit, thereby avoiding all liability of a failure of operation due to the trolley wheel jumping oil" of the wire at the critical moment.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is believed that the manner of installation, operation and several advantages of my improved electric railway control sys tem in its several applications will be clearly and fully understood. The invention being simple in its construction, will not require an expensive additional equipment for the cars, or in any Way necessitate alterations in the present construction of the block signal system, now in general use. It will also be obvious from the foregoing that my improved control system will positively operate to stop the forward movement of the train, into a block which is already occupied, thus absolutely avoiding all possibility of collision; It will be obvious that the several valves and their operating parts may be arranged in the cab of the train car or locomotive in any desired position, most convenient for the motel-man or engineer. The invention is also capable of a great many modifications in the form, proportion and arrangement of its detail parts and I therefore reserve the privilege of resorting to all such legitimate changes as may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the invention, as claimed.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a system of railway control, the combination with an air brake system including an air supply pipe and motormans valve, of a normally open valve, branch pipes connected to the supply pipe and to the brake cylinders, said open valve and the motormans valve being located in one of said branch pipes, a normally closed valve in the other of said branch pipes and controlling air con'm'mnicauun through the same, means for adjustably connecting said latter valve to the normally open valve, electrically controlled mcans for simultaneously operating said valves when the motormans valve is in exhaust position whereby the first named valve is closed and the second valve opened to establish communication through the second named pipes between the supply pipe and the brake cylinders, a latch device for holding the valves in the latter positions, and manually operable means to actuate said latch device to release said valves to permitthe same to return to their respective normal positions.

2. In a railway-control system, the combination with an air brake system including an air supply pipe and the motorman s valve, of a normally open valve, branch pipes connected to the supply pipe and to the brake cylinders, said latter valve and the motormans valve being located in one of said branch pipes, a valve casing having two compartments to which the other of the branch pipes is connected, a valve normally closing communication between said compartments, means for adjustably connecting said valve to the normally open valve, a vertical wall arranged in one of said compartments between one of the branch pipe connections and said valve, a valve mounted in said wall, means for operatin said valves to close the valve in the supp y pipe and open said normally closed valve to establish communication between the compartments of the valve casing, means for varying the air pressure necessary to move the valve in said vertical wall to its open position and establish communication through said branch pipe, a latch device for holding the connected valves in their latter positions, and means for manually operating said device to release the valves and permit the same to return to their respective normal positions.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aliix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LE ROY C. CRIM. Witnesses:

\V. E. RICH, Gsonon E. HELM. 

